Canadian Dental Association

Technology, Growth & Innovation Roadmap

Key Outcomes

1. A multi-year roadmap for technology investments, information management, and data management, providing leadership with a clear path to a strong IT foundation that will enable growth and innovation.  

2. A framework for ongoing sustained IT governance, ensuring leadership are equipped with the tools to maintain their IT advantage.

3. Foundational change management practices, assuring leadership that technology outcomes will not be derailed by failed adoption.

The Challenge

The Canadian Dental Association (CDA) was navigating a hybrid work environment, striving for increased collaboration and knowledge sharing, and aiming to transition to become a digital-first organization.

To achieve these goals, CDA recognized the need to review and enhance its technology strategy and information management practices.

Our Process


Assess Gaps and Opportunities

We began by facilitating discussions across various departments and the leadership team. These conversations aligned the entire project team on perceived gaps and opportunities, ensuring a compete understanding of CDA's current state and future aspirations.

A complete inventory of existing systems was conducted, assessing the data flow between systems, current and desired access levels, vendors, and integration levels. This step was crucial in identifying inefficiencies and areas for improvement.

We also assessed the current IT/IM/Data governance policies, processes, and practices at CDA. This review helped pinpoint areas where governance could be strengthened to support the organization’s goals.

The combination of the alignment on business requirements and the complete picture of the current state of technology services and governance allowed us to develop a complete Gaps and Opportunities assessment along with recommended actions. This assessment shaped the strategic direction and immediate next steps for CDA. As part of this process we confirmed and prioritized the business requirements or outcomes that the technology roadmap must address and we ensured that all requirements were addressed with a combination of current gaps and projects to resolve them.

Develop a Multi-Year Roadmap

A comprehensive Multi-Year Roadmap was finalized, providing CDA’s leadership team with a clear blueprint to plan resources and budgets. This roadmap identified dependencies, prioritized efforts at both project and solution levels, and highlighted ‘quick wins’ for immediate focus.

Support Implementation and Change Management

Following the IT/IM Roadmap project, Differly was retained to support the execution of high-priority projects. We established proven and easily implemented change management foundations that were critical to the success of these initiatives.

Our Ongoing Partnership

Differly continues to support CDA as a trusted partner in the development of new technology and innovation initiatives. The relationship has evolved into a collaborative partnership, driving ongoing growth and success for the organization.

“Differly has been a true partner in the development of our technology and digital strategy.
They also delivered a practical change playbook helping us to gain buy-in, manage resistance more effectively, and increase our odds of success when embarking on large shifts across the organization.”

— Dean Smith, Head of Operations, Canadian Dental Association